The nonprovisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119(a) on Patent Application No. 2001-040012 filed in Japan on Feb. 16, 2001, the entirety of which is herein incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a navigation system for navigating mobile bodies such as vehicles and walking human beings in a predetermined progress direction. In particular, the present invention relates to a navigation system which is capable of easily registering desired via-points.
2. Description of Background Art
Navigation systems for displaying an optimum route from a start point to a destination by registering them beforehand are in wide use. In addition, a navigation system having a backtrack mode known as product name xe2x80x9cMagellan GPS 3000 Satellite Navigatorxe2x80x9d has been sold (from December 1995 in Japan) from Mazellan System Japan, Inc. In the above system, via-points are sequentially registered as WPs (Waypoints) halfway between a start point and destination. In a return way, the registered WPs are reversely followed to correctly reach the start point along the same route as the outward route. In this backtrack mode, the distance and direction from each WP to another WP to return on a return route are displayed on a display panel.
In the above-mentioned background-art technology, a plurality of storage areas are arranged for storing WP positional information, thereby registering a plurality of WPs.
For WP registration, the user presses the xe2x80x9cENTERxe2x80x9d switch to display a function select screen, operates the xe2x80x9cUp Arrowxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cDown Arrowxe2x80x9d switch to select a WP registration capability, presses the xe2x80x9cENTERxe2x80x9d key again to enter the selection, and finally presses the xe2x80x9cENTERxe2x80x9d key, upon which the current position is registered as a new WP into any one of the storage areas which stores no WP.
If the free space of the WP memory runs short, the user operates the xe2x80x9cMENUxe2x80x9d switch, the xe2x80x9cUp Arrowxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cDown Arrowxe2x80x9d switch to display a list of WP numbers, the xe2x80x9cUp Arrowxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cDown Arrowxe2x80x9d switch to select the number of a WP to be deleted, the xe2x80x9cUp Arrowxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cDown Arrowxe2x80x9d switch to select the xe2x80x9cDELETExe2x80x9d capability, and finally presses the xe2x80x9cENTERxe2x80x9d switch.
The above-mentioned background-art technology does not allow the free selection of WP identification numbers. Accordingly, the user cannot classify as many WPs as desired on the basis of the WP numbers. For example, the user cannot classify WP numbers 1 through 20 for sightseeing and WP numbers 21 through 40 for businesses.
The above-mentioned background-art technology presents another problem. Specifically, if the WP storage area runs short, a WP must be deleted first to allocate a free space. This complicates the operations to be performed by the user.
In addition, another problem with the background-art technology is that, on a return route after registering WPs on an outward route, WP5, WP4, WP3, and so on must be sequentially selected so that WPs can be reversely traced. In order to display the navigation guide up to each of these WPs, it is necessary for the the user to display a list of WPs and repeatedly select the desired WPs by operating xe2x80x9cUp Arrowxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cDown Arrowxe2x80x9d buttons. Accordingly, the operation to be performed by the user is further complicated.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a navigation system which, by overcoming the above-mentioned problems, allows the user to register WPs and reference the registered WPs with simple operations.
In carrying out the invention and according to one aspect thereof, there is provided a navigation system for displaying a navigation guide for navigating a movable body to a predetermined registered via-point, comprising: a storage device to which a plurality of storage areas for storing positional information of a plurality of via-points are allocated; a selector switch for selecting any one of said plurality of storage areas; a display for displaying information for identifying the selected storage area and a navigation guide to a registered via-point stored in said selected storage area; and a registration switch for registering positional information into said selected storage area.
According to the above-mentioned novel constitution, the user can select WP storage areas, or WP numbers (identification information), as desired by use of the selector switch. This facilitates the displaying of navigation guides on the basis of the positional information registered in these storage areas, the new registration of positional information into these storage areas, and the control of the WPs based on the WP numbers.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.